As I'm getting ready to at least try being done with this material forever (or at least until DC pays me to make it real. A man can dream) I thought it'd be a fun bonus to post my developmental notes from across the six years Da Pacem Domine was in development. Frankly, it can be kind of fun to see how long and twisted the road to get to "The End" ended up being.
Funnily enough, I think I have the very oldest plans for this story on a document I save back in September of 2017, so still months before Times of Heresy wrapped up and more than a year before the earliest failed version of Da Pacem Domine released. Here's how that pitch to myself went:
Angel of the Bat: Crusade (or something of the sort) plot stuff
The setup itself, naturally, begins with the crusades and Geoffrey de Cantonna, recognized as the first Azrael of the Order of Saint Dumas. The Order in their modern incarnation serve as the story's main villains. The main antagonist himself is Kedar de Cantonna, the illegitimate son of Geoffrey de Cantonna and a Nicaean Muslim woman, product of a rape. The Order of Saint Dumas discovered him as a small child and took him from his mother, deciding they may have use for a child born of the first Azrael.
During a campaign in the Middle East, Geoffrey de Cantonna came upon an ancient Lazarus Pit and claimed it for the Vatican. Over the course of their experiments, Kedar became a crowning achievement when the pit rendered him seemingly totally immortal. Brainwashed by the manipulative tactics of the church of old (while commenting on the church of current…), Kedar serves as both a bishop and Dumas' current leader and is behind the assassination of Pope Benedict at the beginning of the story. Kedar ultimately seeks the Spear of Destiny, but more importantly, to use it to tear the Spectre from Jim Corrigan's body and use the Spectre's power to purge the earth of those he deems impure.
Cassandra is pulled into the plot when, within nights of proposing to Sadie and the chance to consider retirement, she witnesses the murder of Abraham Arlington, who came to Gotham seeking Jean Paul Valley and assistance from a fellow member of the Order not tied to Kedar. With his death, the Suit of Sorrows bonds to Cassandra, altering to resemble her batsuit and refuses to be separated longer than short intervals. This essentially makes Cassie a meta-human for the story, but with her superpowers is forced to fight off the temptations the suit gives her towards its particular brand of justice and retribution. Corrigan himself and Zauriel play supporting roles.
If I had to comment on theme right now, it's a story about the obligation to use power responsibly
A couple of those elements did make it through clear til the end. Kedar (De Cantonna would not be an accurate surname, as it isn't his place of birth), the Spear of Destiny, and the Spectre are all already here. Kedar's powers and backstory are a little different, but I think still recognizable. And his goal was in place from the start, that element never changed. But we can also see that Jim Corrigan and Justice League member Zauriel, a literal angel, were both tied up in the plot as well. If I remember correctly, Kedar used the power of the spear to subjugate Zauriel, who would have served as his enforcer until his brainwashing could be undone. Also, as you can see, Sadie was not planned to be part of the action in this plan. I'm not sure she even would have learned Cassie's secret identity. At some point in there I must have realized I was never going to sell the romance as being a big deal if she was featured so minimally.
Also, wow, I was going to go full alt-history and have a plot about assassinating Pope Benedict at some point? I barely remember anything about that. I think Kedar was maybe trying to install himself as pope to get at the spear, or was maybe just trying to cause an uproar so he could steal the spear while the Vatican was in disarray. Saint Peter's Basilica was almost certainly the location of the final battle in that draft, which would have been interesting in its own way.
The next outline I could find dates of 7/16/2018. So at that point, Times of Heresy was finished. Da Pacem Domine is the name by that point. I'd hint that I was thinking of doing a third entry just a couple days later in Heresy's closing commentary, but I was still unsure if I wanted to move forward. Which is kinda funny, because the notes seem pretty detailed to me.
Angel of the Bat: Da Pacem Domine Outline
One: Story opens with a death scene, though of who we are not totally sure. Transition directly to Azrael (Abraham Arlington) running and hiding for his life as a brainwashed Zauriel (who isn't seen clearly) pursues him across Gotham. He has an unlikely ally in John Constantine, who mentions he's been pursuing Zauriel for a while for the bodies he's left in his wake. Constantine and Arlington are clearly outmatched by the earthbound angel, but able to continue evading him. We're three years past Times of Heresy, Cassie and Sadie have managed well in their long distance relationship, Sadie's winter break is just coming to an end. Cassie's just on her way back from a date when she catches sight of a fight nearby. She's without her costume but runs in anyway to see The Question (Renee Montoya) engaged in a fight with several members of the Order of Saint Dumas. Cassie intervenes and the two defeat the enforcers. Cassie wants to keep moving so her identity isn't lingered on, but ends up following Montoya out of instinct. Nothing is properly explained then and there, but the two are in the right place at the right time when Zauriel knocks Arlington out of a building and he falls to his death. As Cassie approaches the dying Arlington, he passes the Azrael armor onto her against her will. Zauriel in the shadows looks down on them, prepared to continue the fight, but retreats for reasons no one is sure of. The story cuts back to the death scene in question and it's confirmed it was Pope Benedict. Jim Corrigan regains his mental faculties, revealing he has witnessed everything in the chapter in a vision and departs for Gotham.
Two: As the Azrael suit conforms to Cassie's Angel costume, her identity is outed to Constantine and Montoya. Constantine is only mildly interested, but this sticks with Montoya the rest of the plot.
That's all the more I wrote for that one. We're a couple steps closer to The Apocryphal Attempt, but not really any closer to the final version. Montoya and Constantine are brought up as big players, but brainwashed Zauriel is still here and the Benedict assassination is still around. Sadie's still only mentioned in passing, so she's not playing a big role.
The next note, called, "AD Plan," was saved 10/21/2018, 3 days before I hastily released the first chapters in the story's earliest incarnation.
At this point, I haven't really found a proper purpose or much for Zauriel to do. Despite initial plans to include him, I think Azmodeus could fulfill what little purpose I've given him. So…
- De Cantonna uses the Spear of Destiny to force Azmodeus under his control and offers to free him from hell if he serves under him. When eventually called out about this, he points out Christ said men who drove out demons did not serve demons, he didn't say anything about demons serving men.
- Because the very aura of the Spear of Destiny is potent enough to be a red flag to a being like the Spectre, Cantonna doesn't wish to carry it openly. He is keeping it in his base, a temple in his native Middle East, and is out to lead Corrigan to it.
- Arlington learns the truth and flees for the USA for aid. He encounters John Constantine along the way, who reluctantly agrees to protect him.
- Arlington entrusts as little information as he can to Constantine, as he fears he shouldn't be trusted as he is not a man of faith. But still confides in him about via a short poem. Constantine does not understand its meaning, but agrees to deliver Arlington's message if anything should happen to him.
- Azmodeus kills Arlington. Cassie, Sadie and Renee Montoya witness it along with Constantine and the Azrael suit bonds with Cassie. As Azmodeus isn't one to make himself overly useful to De Contanna, he flees.
- The four regroup at Wayne Manor, Bruce goes into what he knows of the Azrael suit, including his own history. Kedar De Cantonna arrives (under a fake name) and informs the cast there has been a schism within the Order of Saint Dumas and that is what Arlington was killed over. He presses Constantine for what he knows. Constantine doesn't say much, as he is looking to fulfill a promise he made to Arlington about who he will reveal details to. Cantonna says he respects this oath and offers to guide Constantine to Gotham's sect of the Order of Saint Dumas so he can deliver his message. Montoya departs on her own terms. Sadie is still shook up by the whole thing and she stays with Cassie for the night.
- Late that night several members of the Order break in and attack Cassie and Sadie. Cassie, complete with her newfound power in the Azrael suit, beats the hell out of their attackers. Constantine and Montoya arrive as they are escaping the property, revealing they and (Cantonna) were attacked as well. Constantine theorizes Azmodeus cast a spell upon them in order to track their movements. Constantine casts one of his own that will protect them, but they all have to stick together for it to be effective. Figuring they need to not be where the Order will find them for the night, they depart into Gotham and pick up an inconspicuous hotel room.
- The next morning, Constantine and Montoya recount their attacks from the previous night as they journey into Gotham proper. Constantine suspects Azmodeus's tracking spell follows the transfer of the Azrael suit and that, because of the quick, sloppy nature of the transfer, some residue of the spell remains on all of them. Since he needs to deliver Arlington's message anyway, he hopes whoever they find in the Order of Saint Dumas will know something about relieving themselves of the trail. Arriving at the Order's base, there is a young man waiting for them who says he will lead them to the (priest? Master?) of the Gotham sect. As he leads them underground, he begins to sob and apologize as he reveals he has led them into a deadly trap (but not another attack by the dissenters so soon, that'd be repetitive)
- The four struggle out of the trap they're in, whatever it is, but are still trapped underground. They are freed from the outside by Jim Corrigan in his storyline debut, who leads them away as they try to regroup.
- The five catch up with the one survivor and grill him for information. He informs them the master of the Gotham dioceses was the only one in the country who could have accepted Arlington's message. Their next best bet is Father Garrett Day in London.
- Under what cover they can manage Cassie contacts Bruce, who agrees to set up a private flight for them headed for England. They encounter Cantonna on the way there who offers them passage of his own, but they assure him they are already taken care of and he agrees to meet them in England. This is the first point Montoya grows suspicious of him. As they try to board they are attacked by Azmodus a second time, who gets the better of all of them. Corrigan shows a little of his frightening power but redirects it to getting them all off of the air strip. They are whisked miles away to a freighter on its way to the UK, but days out. Corrigan admits he's still rusty at making the powers work for him again and struggles with control.
- One or more chapters aboard the freighter for character interactions.
- In the UK, they make their way to Father Garrett Day. Constantine finally delivers his message and Father Day reveals his best guess at their meaning: he theorizes the "Nephilim" refers to a descendant of Geoffrey de Cantonna, the first Azrael and wearer of the Suit of Sorrows. However, the Order long believed Cantonna's direct bloodline had died off centuries ago. He does speculate about a young man in Italy, said to be the illegitimate son of Brother Rollo. As for the "Destiny" part of the equation, he speculates it refers to the Spear of Destiny. He also states he doesn't have the power to remove the Suit of Sorrows.
- Before making for Italy, they again rendezvous with Cantonna, but Montoya keeps them from revealing any information. Despite Cassie's objection, Cantonna accepts Montoya's suspicion and wishes them luck in their quest.
- Travel to Italy, multiple encounters with the Order dissidents along the way.
- They follow the path laid out for them to a Tuscan villa guarded by members of the Order. Upon their victory, they break into the villa. Constantine and Corrigan both pick up that the Spear of Destiny is within. Upon fighting off their opponents on the outside, they break into the Villa to discover Rollo's son is a stupid fuckboy who's been using the spear as a piece of decoration. It is at this point Cantonna reveals himself and his true nature, kills Rollo's son for his excess and summons Azmodeus to his aid. The five put up enough of a fight that Cantonna fears for the situation. With all their effort, they manage to incapacitate Corrigan and teleport away to Cantonna's hideout in the Middle East.
- The remaining four contact Father Day, who Montoya admits was innocent of what happened. They plead with him to aid them if he knows anything more about Cantonna's plans. He believes he knows the temple Cantonna intends to extract the Spectre's spirit within and agrees to join them for the climax in the hopes of keeping him from doing so.
Most of this is still bound more to the Apocryphal Attempt, of course, but some of the final version of the story is starting to take shape. Sadie is now attached to the plot from beginning to end (albeit for different reasons), we get some globe-trotting and repeated fights with an evil Order of some kind (though they're all still pretty much faceless goons), and even a couple day's journey on a boat. The boat plan survived multiple drafts, and it was going to be a chance for the cast to just talk things out, bounce off one another as characters, all that. Cassie and Sadie's big conversation about her backstory was going to happen there for a long time, before the final version moved it to the Vatican.
The plot involving the illegitimate son of Brother Rollo survived a couple trains of thought, but was entirely abandoned before it could start to stand as a plot point in any version. I seriously did not remember it at all until rereading these notes, but the idea of it amuses me.
The next big notes document I can find doesn't come up until 10/12/2019, so by that point version 2 was started and abandoned. I'm certain the second version had some notes, but maybe they just weren't ever very substantial. Anywho-
- Like the Crusades themselves, the story can begin in Clermont, France. Sadie is studying abroad in Europe (maybe in Paris, but is enjoying a holiday) and Cassie is visiting. Renee Montoya is in town as a consultant on a cult case. And Constantine is present playing bodyguard to Abraham Arlington.
- The cult in this case should be Cantonna's doing. More specifically, a number of sacrifices his order performed to summon Azmodus. As for why it's happening in Clermont, the magic might require some great sense of personal significance to utilize. So Cantonna begins "the last crusade" in the same place the first one began.
- Cantonna already has the Spear of Destiny at this point, as it would be extremely unwise to try summoning Azmodus without it on top of risking a confrontation with the Specter without it at the ready.
- Why exactly does Arlington need Constantine here? THAT, I'm just realizing, is a very good question. In past writings I've presented Arlington as paranoid and pathetic when the Suit of Sorrows isn't in charge. I can stick with that depiction, but still, he doesn't exactly need a bodyguard.
- Considering Montoya's already on cult murder duty, Arlington may well be in the area on orders to recover the Spear of Destiny. But he's never had to track it before and Constantine is in as his consultant. This maybe leans a bit too far into the borderline unrelated Reeves movie, but Constantine's attitude and comic-accurate portrayal can depict that he only had a similar encounter at one point in his career.
- So Montoya is investigating the sacrifices, Constantine and Arlington are on spear hunting duty, and Cassie and Sadie are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- Cantonna probably also tried to extract the Spectre from Crispus Allen and killed him in the process. Hell, that works as one more reason for Montoya to be in town. Good, keeping it.
- That just leaves whatever's going on with Cantonna and his crew. In contrast with the Seraphim and Lipov's callousness toward their servants, I want Cantonna to care about all of his underlings.
- So the three major classes of lesser Templar were Knights, Sergeants, and Chaplains. Top of the food chain is Grand Master, a title that's obviously going to Cantonna. Sergeant is the next class down, Nijah can fill that role. So there can then be maybe just three knights proper along with a non-aggressive priest who serves as chaplain.
- The three knights should all be unique in their designs and powers and the like. Nijah can wear black, as sergeants reportedly did. Official ruling says the rest of the members should just wear white, but seeing as how Cantonna is letting his daughter serve as his sergeant, he's not beyond breaking some tradition.
- Bringing Arlington's mentor back into the plot, he can serve as Cantonna's former Chaplain who came to renounce his ties to Kedar's plans and works.
We're getting really close to the version I started writing on this third version, but Kedar making sacrifices and Montoya as a cult expert are still a little ways out. I believe I did start writing this version, but revised it again before I put out this current version.
The Order of Nephilim still hasn't taken on its final form yet. Per some information that got cut from version 1, Nijah's actually been around as early as the first version I started posting, but didn't come up in the text until version two. She's acknowledged here and her closeness to Kedar is noted. Although my notes call her his daughter, I'm pretty sure she was still his distant, non-immortal niece, she just called him her father out of honor. I'm also pretty sure she's not a jinni yet.
We have one small, simply document made in January of 2020. By now the decision to do monstrous hybrids among the bad guys has hit me.
Original-
Caoránach, a Celtic mother demon who legend says was banished from Ireland by Saint Patrick
The Huay Chivo, a Mayan man-beast sorcerer who is an ill omen and steals livestock
A Bulgu, an Ethiopian ogre with an axe-like head and a taste for human flesh
A Manananggal, a Filippino iteration of a magic-casting vampire
And a Jinn, the Middle East's well-established tricksters of smokeless fire.
Revised-
Aillen, Celtic fire goblin with sleep voice. Descendant is Brendan Gallagher, team Chaplain
Kalku, Chilean warlock who commands undead children. Joaquin Sandoval is the son of one, and inherited his father's forces when he killed him.
Bulgu, see above. One's offspring is Gedeyon. No last name because Ethiopians don't use them
Manananggal, see above. Playing by Blade rules on this one, child was infected in the womb. His name is Benjie Cornes.
Benjie, Nijah, and Gedeyon are all in place by this point and ready to appear in The Apocryphal Attempt. Gallagher and Joaquin take on their final forms at this point.
By now, we reach the point in which I've decided The Apocryphal Attempt just isn't working, and I start getting ready to write what ends up being the final version. There's one last note that feels pretty different from that version that I wrote in December of 2023.
Before Act 1:
The Order of Nephilim attempt to summon Azmodus, specifically with the intention of using him as bait for the Spectre.
Abraham Arlington/Azrael interrupts the ritual. A battle ensues, he is strong enough to hold his own for a while, but the summoning eventually goes off anyway.
Azmodus is brought forth, the Spectre arrives almost immediately to curtail him. Kedar disposes of Azmodus immediately with the Spear of Destiny and goes straight for the Spectre, wounding him. The Spectre retreats into Crispus Allen and refuses to come out. With a few of their Sword of Sin inspired daggers stabbed into him, Allen is immobilized. Arlington interrupts the fight and rescues him, Arlington tries to make for the nearest Catholic church.
All those involved parties are near Gotham when this happens, not making a long scramble from Europe. Kedar may be aware Crispus Allen is the Spectre's current host and is intentionally doing the ritual close to Gotham for extra security, since it's still home base for Allen in some sense.
Act One
Cassandra and Sadie are celebrating her making sales at an art exhibit in town. We catch up with them a little. Sadie opens up about having marriage on the mind, but that they need to figure out the logistics of it. We get an update to Cassandra's state too- that she's feeling her own sense of frustration with her faith. Not God, to be clear, Catholicism.
New note- Think it would be beneficial if Cassandra had an experience that estranged her from the church. Initial thought was something highly personal (a confrontation of some kind) maybe along with getting outed in a tabloid or something. Most all of Bruce's children get slapped around by it at least a little, but somebody particularly shitty notes it about Cassie. This maybe led to some kind of physical confrontation where she kicked some ass, but that too made news and she ends of feeling ostracized as a result of it.
Planning that this was all something that happened a little while back, and will be confirmed via flashback a ways into the story. Build up some mystery around it to get started.
Monsignor Ryan calls Cassandra over to Saint Michaels. She meets him there, then meets Arlington and Crispus, the latter of whom is suffering from a defense-mechanism induced amnesia. Nijah, Gallagher, and Geydeon enter the church in pursuit, Cassandra and Arlington fight them.
The fight goes relatively evenly, but in his increasingly burned-out state Arlington is struggling. Nijah and Geydeon manage to bodily throw him out of the church. Sadie witnesses this in stunned confusion and rushes over to see what's going on. In the ensuing events, Arlington is killed, the suit's power is split between Cassandra and Sadie, and Tim and Steph arrive to aid in the escape for them and Crispus.
Cassie, Sadie, Tim, Steph, and Crispus all make it to a safehouse and contact Batman. Not knowing what they're up against or how to proceed, Sadie, via Arlington's memories, comes up with his allies at the Vatican and the name, "Father Zein," who she associates with healing and memory manipulation. It is decided they should go to the Vatican to seek aid removing the Suit of Sorrows, offer warning about the Order of Nephilim, and help Crispus.
The Order is unaware Crispus has lost his memories at this point, and remain focus on retaking him while neutralizing the Suit of Sorrows, as best they can.
(Right, great, now we gotta cross the Atlantic Ocean. Not sure I ever figured this one out. Liked this bit better when we were already in Europe)
Let's start in Europe. Back to Clermont-Ferrand, Sadie can be studying there full time or just taking some time away with Cassie. Spend some time with them being cute. A fire breaks out in a nearby shop (Arlington slaid one of Sandoval's anchimayan, which caused the fire.) Cassandra runs off to help out with it. In an early showing of the Order's humanity, Sandoval is also inside helping out. Simultaneous with this, Sadie sees an escaping Arlington and an injured, amnesiac Crispus Allen and goes to help them.
Gedeyon and Nijah bust into the church with the intention of extracting Crispus. Since their powers don't work within holy ground, Arlington overpowers both of them. Sadie and Allan hide in the confessionals, Sadie texts Cass for help
(There's a page break here. It's probably at this point that, for the first time, Sadie getting the Spectre locked in her hits me)
So if Sadie has the Spectre's power the whole time, is there a sense of tension?
The Spectre might have been (or at least appear to be) damaged by Kedar.
We lose the tension and we know Kedar's goal right from the beginning, but maybe just the "get the Spectre" element wasn't ever really what was interesting to hide, but his more noble, if still horrific, motives.
Kedar's ancestor can still maybe even be Geoffrey De Cantonna, maybe just a revised version for this continuity. Previously had the idea the Suit of Sorrows was created based on a battle against the Spectre's host during the Crusades.
Kedar might have cut something off of the Spectre, or, like, a shard of the Spear of Destiny is still lodged within the spirit, interrupting its communication with Sadie. It can house itself within her without her consent, but she can't take up its power until she grants it.
Gradually, the wheels in my head are turning toward the final version here. Constantine and Montoya have been excused from the plot and I'm playing with the thought of Steph and Tim getting substantial roles again. Crispus Allen is considered to possibly get a supporting role, but streamlining his part into Sadie gets decided upon at one point.
My very last note is a timeline that I wrote shortly after I wrote chapter 5. Not totally sure when (it was saved to my phone. It shows me when I last edited, but not when it was created) but it would have been around March of 2024. Everything was basically there, finally.
5- Cassie fights Nijah 1
6- Departure from Gotham, character development bits
7- Fight with Benjie, forced to land the plane in France
8- Rebuilding the plan with Day, board train for French coast
9- Nijah and Gedeyon attack the train (unsure exactly how we get to this end, but Gedeyon incapacitated by Nijah's knife)
10- Boat ride 1, Sadie interview
11- Gedeyon backstory, speculation
12- Boat ride 2, Cassie and Nijah
13- Sandoval backstory, Nijah dream reveal
14- Boat arrives in Italy. Interrupted by Sandoval
15- Sandoval fight. Escape to Vatican
16- Meeting Father Day, setup
17- Cassie and Sadie talk about the whole thing.
18- Kedar and Gallagher attack.
19- Cassie fights Kedar. The Spectre activates and whisks Cass and Sadie away
20- Cassie and Sadie reach Father Zein. Sadie has a bit of a breakdown, but is confirmed Cassie will be all right.
- Sadie has the Father Gallagher dream
21- Father Zein gives the answers we've all been waiting on
22- One chapter of refugee life and Cassandra talking to Zein, refreshing her faith. Gets ahold of Tim and Steph at the end.
23- Tim and Steph's current position with a beaten Sandoval. Bruce is back on earth and coming too. Sandoval learns the location of the camp and passed word along to Kedar.
24- Cassie and Sadie go to meet with the Bat fam, but a now aware Nijah, Gedeyon, and Benjie all attack at once. Even with the Sword of Salvation, Cassie is defeated trying to protect Sadie. Father Zein and their Mami Wati powers get Sadie to holy ground. Nijah issues a location for their final confrontation and takes Cassie captive.
(Editing note: clearly the numbering got messed up here somewhere. Which is fine)
—-
FINAL ARC
26- Bat fam arrives at the refugee camp, Sadie explains what she knows, they gear up for a final confrontation. When prompted, Sadie attempts to tap into Kedar's history.
27 While captive, Cassandra is granted a last chance to say confession and granted a call to Father Ryan. After her confession, Gallagher puts her to sleep for Nijah to confront her
JINN- Cassie's vision of Nijah's history, revealed by Nijah herself. Nijah then challenges her to a final duel
NEPHILIM 2- Sadie gets Kedar's history
28- Cassie and Nijah's final battle, Nijah concedes
29- Calm before the storm- Bat fam arrives for the final battle. When the moment is right, Nijah wakes Cassie.
30- Final battle begins, total ballroom blitz. Kedar gets his hands on Sadie, but Nijah turns on him to stop him. Kedar takes Nijah as his hostage and infuriates the Spectre before Sadie can get it under control by slashing Nijah's neck. Kedar spears and then takes control of the Spectre.
Children of God- Short interstitial showing the entire planet suddenly suffering from Kedar's weaponized empathy. But because of Cassandra's confession, she's immune, even by his standards.
31- Cassandra and Spectre Kedar fight, Cassie eventually ripping the angel out with her two swords and it flees into Sadie. Kedar makes a last rush as she awakens.
32- Sadie and Spectre talk philosophy. Awaken, Kedar is defeated. Falling action. Let's get married (we may or may not get a wedding scene)
EPILOGUE
And there we have it, just about all the major notes I could find across six years of trying to make Da Pacem Domine happen. A lot of ingredients were subbed or just plain removed, but you can still see some of the original framework made it from the very beginning to the very end.